The present invention is related to communication systems for use with a medical device and, more particularly, to wireless communication systems for automatically identifying the location of a medical device.
The current trend in the medical industry is to make life-saving portable medical devices, such as automated external defibrillators (AEDs), more widely accessible. As the availability of portable medical devices continues to increase, more places will have these devices for use in emergency situations. However, this increase also comes with the heightened likelihood that these portable medical devices will be used by people without medical training. The advantage of having a life-saving medical device immediately available to a lay person is then fully realized when use of the device is followed by professional emergency medical care. For AEDs, the increase in survival rate made possible by early defibrillation is enhanced when advanced life support (ALS) providers can arrive on the scene in a timely fashion. Indeed, the American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that early defibrillation be followed by care provided by persons trained in ALS. This presents two requirements for AEDs: (1) ALS providers must be promptly notified that an AED is being used; and (2) ALS providers must be given the location of the AED.
Previous attempts to meet these two requirements have included the use of a global positioning system (GPS) receiver to obtain the AED""s location and a cellular telephone to give the location to ALS providers. The GPS receiver, when fully functional, is advantageous because often times the person making a call to ALS providers is not aware of, or mistaken about, his exact location, especially in case of emergency. The problem is that current GPS receivers do not work well in metal buildings, or xe2x80x9curban canyons,xe2x80x9d due to signal interference and blockage. Thus, although a cellular telephone could be used to alert ALS providers that an AED is being used, it cannot give the device""s location to ALS providers when the device is used in certain unfavorable locations.
The present invention provides a system and method for reliably locating a portable medical device, such as an AED, by utilizing wireless automatic location identification (ALI) technologies that overcome the problems associated with automatically providing the location of a medical device.
Specifically, the invention provides a wireless ALI-capable system, including a medical device having a wireless data communicator, such as a cellular phone. The ALI-capable system further includes a wireless communication network and a remote locating service for remotely locating and monitoring one or more medical devices over the wireless communication network. When the medical device is linked to the remote locating service over the communication network, the ALI-capable system identifies the location of the medical device and relays the location information to the remote locating service. The term ALI refers to the location identification capability in compliance with the wireless Enhanced 911 standard prescribed by the United States Federal Communications Commission (xe2x80x9cthe wireless E911 standardxe2x80x9d). The wireless E911 standard mandates that cellular phone service providers within the United States provide the capability to locate the position of a cellular phone making an emergency (911) call within the provider""s system. The term ALI, as used in the present description, encompasses such location identification capability as applied to all calls placed to any numbers, not limited to emergency calls nor limited to calls placed only in the United States. The ALI capability may be based on handset-based technologies, network-based technologies, or a combination of handset-based and network-based technologies. Using the ALI-capable system of the present invention, an operator of the remote locating service can reliably identify the location of the medical device calling the remote locating service, even when the medical device is placed in unfavorable locations, such as within urban canyons.
In one embodiment, a medical device of the ALI-capable system is configured to automatically link itself to the remote locating service over the network upon occurrence of a predetermined triggering event. For example, the medical device may be configured to establish a link upon activation (turning on) of the medical device. When the medical device is implemented as a defibrillator, the defibrillator may be configured so that application of electrodes to a patient will trigger initiation of a link. Any other events associated with the operation of the medical device can be used as a link-triggering event. This feature is advantageous in case of emergency deployment of a defibrillator, because use of a defibrillator can then be immediately reported to an emergency response central dispatch (where the remote locating service is situated) and followed up by paramedics trained in advanced life support (ALS) procedures. Consequently, this embodiment meets both of the requirements discussed in the background section above: (1) ALS providers must be promptly notified that an AED is being used; and (2) ALS providers must be given the location of the AED.
In another embodiment, a medical device of the ALI-capable system is configured to transmit various information to the remote locating service over the network, such as the status or condition of the medical device (battery level, etc.), self-test results, or even physiological data of a patient being treated with the medical device. This may be performed upon inquiry from the remote locating service, periodically, or even automatically. The transmitted information may then be received by the remote locating service for display or further processing. This feature allows an operator at the remote locating service to not only identify the location of the medical device but also monitor the medical device itself or events occurring in association with the medical device at the remote emergency site. A user of the medical device and an operator of the remote locating service can also communicate with each other verbally, via text messaging, and/or graphical messaging in conventional manners.
In yet another embodiment, the ALI-capable system is suited for centrally monitoring a plurality of medical devices. Specifically, a medical device of the ALI-capable system is configured to transmit various information indicative of the status, condition, or self-test results of the medical device to the remote locating service over the network. The transmission may be programmed to occur upon inquiry from the remote locating service, periodically, or even automatically upon detection of certain triggering events, such as malfunctioning of the device or deployment (turning on) of the device. Any detected triggering event will then be relayed to the remote locating service. Additionally, the transmission of information may be programmed to occur according to a predetermined schedule stored in the medical device. For example, the medical device may be configured to notify the remote locating service that a component of the medical device has expired or is nearing its expiration, or that an owner or designated operator of the medical device needs to be retrained in the use and operation of the medical device. Accordingly, an operator at the remote locating service may receive such information regarding the status/condition of the medical device. As before, the operator also receives the location information of the medical device according to the ALI-capable system of the present invention. Thus, the operator can take an appropriate action, for example, by sending a service agent to the medical device to perform necessary servicing.